JoJonium ★ Entrevistas Especiais

Volumes

Entrevistas Especiais

Em cada volume do JoJonium, há uma seção na traseira do livro contendo uma entrevista com Hirohiko Araki discutindo o personagem destacado na capa. Essas entrevistas agem como pequenas biografias sublinhando o processo da criação de ditos personagens e os pensamentos de Araki durante a época.

As páginas também incluem uma foto do personagem, seu perfil, e uma pergunta Q&A a respeito das escolhas de design do personagem na ilustração da capa.

Volume 1 (Jonathan Joestar)

“

O título da obra é JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, mas em primeiro lugar, eu na verdade queria desenhar o Dio. Bem e mal, branco e preto—Jonathan e Dio funcionam como símbolos e são os opostos um do outro. A obra tinha o potencial de continuar, então na minha cabeça, eu quis criar um "primeiro Joestar" que poderia funcionar como um símbolo de pureza e dignidade em vez de um personagem novo e único—é por isso que foi difícil criá-lo.

Tem limites a como eu poderia escrever o personagem porque ele era um "símbolo da justiça," então ele pode estar mais no lado entediante. Eu solidifiquei seu personagem enquanto eu ia. Jonathan é passivo, reagindo aos vários ataques de Dio, e isso o leva a descobrir seu jeito de viver. Talvez isso seja ligado a mim como um autor, crescendo junto do meu personagem enquanto eu o desenhava. Assim como Jonathan não tinha certeza de como viver sua vida, eu não estava certo sobre o rumo do personagem. Talvez eu cresci um pouco como autor com o Jonathan enquanto ele passava por suas tribulações.

Na Parte 1, durante os sete anos após a morte do Danny, Jonathan ficou bem musculoso. Essa mudança foi feita com a batalha iminente entre ele e Dio em mente. Eu achei que seu físico precisava ser capaz de aguentar os ataques constantes apartir desse ponto. Além disso, quando essa parte estava originalmente sendo serializada, era a era dos "músculos" nas telas de cinema—caras como Schwarzenegger e Stallone. Schwarzenegger, por exemplo, nunca podia ser parado por uma quantidade de tiros, certo? Eu queria que Jonathan tivesse uma aparência parecida com a dele—a aparência de ser imparável. A Weekly Shonen Jump também tem um histórico e tradição de protagonistas evoluindo e crescendo.

Eu também queria que Jonathan exalasse uma aura de força como em Karate Baka Ichidai após treinar artes marciais sozinho nas montanhas. Quando criança, eu amava mangás sobre karatê—você todos os tipos de forças sobrenaturais, como socar postes de eletricidade e fazer os passáros nos fios caírem ou alguém tentando esfaquear outra pessoa com uma faca, apenas para a faca acabar dobrando. Na verdade, artes marciais tem um certo aspecto místico, como socos empoderadores com técnicas de respiração. Eu queria incluir coisas sobrenaturais como essas em JoJo, e eu acredito que o Hamon foi inspirado pelo meu amor por mangás de karatê.

Q. Dio e Danny fizeram as pazes?

A. Só para a capa. É difícil desenhar os personagens da Parte 1 depois de todo esse tempo, mas é como se encontrar com velhos amigos.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 2 (Will Anthonio Zeppeli)

“

*Mesmo quando ele assina suas artes, Zeppeli é o único personagem que o sensei Araki se refere como "Sr." (San em japonês)

O Sr. Zeppeli* foi nomeado em referência a banda de rock "Led Zeppelin." Eles são músicos de alto-nível para mim, então eu senti que tinha que referenciar seu nome com esse personagem, embora fosse realmente uma pena eu tê-lo usado tão cedo—como jogar o Coringa logo no começo de um jogo de cartas. Logo, eu tive que me acostumar com isso quando eu estreiei o Sr. Zeppeli. Também é importante como o nome soa/ tem vários nomes com "J" na obra como JoJo, Jonathan e Joestar que são parecidos, então eu quis equilibrar os nomes com um "Z" como Zeppeli. Eu me certifiquei de fazer o mesmo com o Speedwagon.

O Sr. Zeppeli ensina o Hamon para Jonathan e o leva em sua jornada para destruir a máscara de pedra. Eu gosto de professores que são bobos e te fazem se perguntar e se eles estão ou não faltando um parafuso na cabeça. Como nos filmes do Jackie Chan, o mestre é sempre um bêbado—então o quão forte ele pode ser? A mesma coisa em Karatê Kid. Sua aparência exterior pode ser meio estranha, mas é o que está por baixo que merece respeito. Esses personagens tem um charme por causa da diferença entre seu exterior e interior, e porque você não pode julgá-los por sua capa. O Sr. Zeppeli pode parecer fraco em um primeiro olhar, mas ele é forte na verdade, mesmo que o tenha o vestido como um mágico e o dei o bigode de um vendedor de óleo de cobra. Seu bigode foi inspirado por aqueles usados pelo pintor Salvador Dali e o Iyami de Osomatsu-kun'.

No entanto, o bigode requer muita coragem para ser usado em uma revista shonen. Principalmente porque faz o personagem parecer mais velho e indigno de confiança, independente do tipo de bigode. Para o Sr. Zeppeli—enquanto ele serve como mestre do JoJo, não é como se ele fosse um senhor muito mais velho que o JoJo. Ele também é personagem de apoio principal. Eu talvez tenha desapontado os leitores com ele, então foi necessário coragem. Ele é o tipo de personagem que eu não usei de verdade nas minhas outras obras, masa é um que eu queria usar para os motivos que eu mencionei acima. Pensando sobre isso agora, talvez tenha sido uma "aposta" ou "aventura" da minha parte. Naquela época eu provavelmente pensei, "Eh, é JoJo, vai dar certo." É uma Bizarra Aventura, afinal de contas.

Por final, ao meu crédito, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken) saiu antes da série de drama japonesa Bizarre Stories in This World (Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari). Entendam.

Q. Poderia a esfera em seu cano ser…?

A. É uma bola de aço de Steel Ball Run. Zeppeli é conhecido por sua cartola. É um formato legal e se você curvar o design de diamante, ele parece tridimensional

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 3 (Dio Brando)

“

Eu mencionei isso antes quando eu estava falando sobre o Jonathan, mas o Dio era quem eu realmente queria desenhar na Parte 1. O quão longe pode a ambição de um homem levá-lo quando ele a leva ao extremo supremo? Era isso que eu queria retratar. Eu queria que seu nome soasse maneiro quando junto dos JoJos, então eu acabei ficando com Dio, que significa "deus" em italiano. Eu sempre ouvi teorias dizendo que ele conseguiu seu nome do Dio Scooter, mas isso não é verdade! Eu só vou deixar isso claro, assim como a coisa a respeito do Kimyou na Bouken do volume anterior.

Em relação a como ele contrasta com Jonathan, eu quis abordar como você representa o vilão supremo como retratado cotnra o símbolo da justiça. Como exatamente ele chegaria à esse papel de "vilão"? As pessoas sempre amam comparar quem é mais forte ou quem é mais legal. Você tem o Godzilla versus o Mechagodzilla, Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone… Eu quis que tivesse esse tipo de contraste ou luta entre Dio e Jonathan.

Adicionalmente, o perfilamento psicológico do FBI era um tópico em tendência na época em que eu o escrevi. Porque os assassinos-em-série fazem o que eles fazem, cientificamente falando? Eu fui inspirado por isso quando eu estava trabalhando no Dio. Caras assim são verdadeiros otários, podres no coração. E mesmo assim, eu sempre meio que pensei que eles são na verdade incrivelmente fortes para poderem conseguir cometer tais crimes. Por que eles vão tão longe? Será que eles só fazem isso para ver se podem? O aspecto do "controle" disso me interessa também. Tinha um caso famoso nos Estados Unidos onde um homem prendeu várias mulheres em uma sala e as levou para fora, uma de cada vez, para outra sala para matá-las. Todas essas mulheres estavam esperando, juntas, por sua vez de serem mortas. Eu não consigo imaginar como estava seu estado mental naquele ponto… Pensando racionalmente, você se pergunta porque elas não tentaram fugir, ou porque elas não tentaram se juntar e atacar o assassino? Deve haver alguma maneira de resistir. Entretanto, se você observar o processo no qual as pessoas controlam as outras, você começa a ver como isso é efetivo. Há muitas maneiras, incluindo causar o medo, mas eu sempre achei o ato de controlar os outros estranhamente fascinante.

É por isso que Dio não foi simplesmente um vilão forte, mas sim um personagem que controla os outros e tem admiradores que o servem. Como um antagonista, isso traz suspense ao leitor, enquanto eles se perguntam como ele poderá ser derrotado. Durante a serialização, eu realmente não tinha uma fraqueza preparada para o Dio. É o melhor tipo de suspense quando você está no limite. Como eles conseguirão vencê-lo se o Hamon não funciona? Mais forte o inimigo, o melhor. Mas, foi difícil inventar um jeito dele ser derrotado.

Q. Por que o Dio está pelado?

A. Ele quis mostrar seu lindo corpo. Se eu tentar, eu posso desenhar esses personagens como eles eram, mas eles são coisas vivas que respiram. Eles acabam parecendo pessoas completamente diferentes quando desenhados em um estilo moderno.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 4 (Joseph Joestar)

“

Joseph Joestar foi quem pegou a torcha do JoJo original, Jonathan Joestar, para se tornar o protagonista da segunda geração. Olhando para trás, parece que muitos fãs acham os dois idênticos. A coisa é que, quando isso estava sendo originalmente serializado, era sem precentes fazer um protagonista morrer em uma história da Weekly Shonen Jump. "O mangá tem o mesmo título, mas agora tem um protagonista diferente"—foi difícil de pensar em uma maneira de ultrapassar a percepção do leitor de que ele havia se tornado um mangá completamente diferente! É por isso que eu decidi manter a aparência de Joseph a mesma que a de Jonathan mas trocando sua personalidade. Porém, agora que a obra foi até a Parte 8, eu queria ter diferenciado as aparências dos protagonistas das Partes 1 e 2 um pouco mais (risos).

Como mencionado enquanto discutindo sobre o Jonathan, Dio é o preto do branco de Jonathane—bastante passivo e talvez um pouco desinteressante como protagonista. Joseph, pelo outro lado, é mais fácil de ver como sendo proativo, e eu senti que isso funcionou. Enquanto eu escrevia o conto de Joseph, foi mais como se ele estivesse sob o controle de como a história progredia, então eu acho que ele acabou sendo mais um "aventureiro", se é que você me entende. Em comparação ao cavalheiro Jonatham, Joseph está constantemente buscando vencer em confrontos ou jogos e fará coisas loucas sem hesitação. Em termos mais simples, ele tem a personalidade de um trapaceiro. Isso não foi feito só para criar um contraste entre ele e Jonathan, mas também porque eu queria que o foco mudasse das batalhas físicas da Parte 1 para confrontos mais intelectuais.

Antigamente, como extensão da minha outra obra, Cool Shock B.T., eu queria fazer de Joseph um personagem de mangá shonen que dobra as regras enquanto ele luta. Essencialmente, fazer ele usar as estratégias de um trapaceador para vencer usando perspicácia e lógica. Eu não queria que ele fosse o tipo de personagem que vence com bravura e preserverança, então foi mais fácil de aprofundar sua personalidade com frases como "Sua próxima frase será…" onde ele acaba lendo as ações do oponente à frente do tempo. Para simplificar, Joseph é tipo um B.T. musculoso. Eu coloquei um pouco do Stallone no B.T. e adicionei uma alegria para uma boa medida para torná-lo um indivíduo mais alegre.

Joseph é o personagem que conecta a linhagem Joestar às Partes 3 e 4. Eu fiz Jonathan morrer na história da Parte 1, mas eu nem considerei matar o Joseph. Se eu soubesse que JoJo iria até a Parte 8, eu acho que teria mudado seu design visual um pouco.

Q. Por que o Joseph tem um chapéu e óculos?

A. Para ajudar a diferenciá-lo do Jonathan. A Parte 2 se passa quando os aviões estavam se tornando prevalentes pela primeira vez. É por isso que eu o dei um chapéu de piloto com óculos--uma aparência meio steampunk ou de motociclista.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 5 (Lisa Lisa)

“

Lisa Lisa the Ripple teacher. For the second JoJo, I had a female character play the part of the Ripple master. This idea originally stemmed from me wondering what it would be like for a female to follow up the original Ripple master, Mr. Zeppeli from Part 1. There actually weren't too many female characters in JoJo's at that point, but she works well paired with Joseph and Caesar, doesn't she? There are times where I simply think, "no…a guy or an older man just wouldn't work here" and pick characters based on the balance of the group. The first obstacle with Lisa Lisa's character was her name. Back then, if you picked a non-Japanese name for your character, it was a challenge to get the audience to remember it. That's why I picked Lisa Lisa--I had hoped that like with JoJo, a repetitious name would help. It also phonetically resembles Japanese to some extent.

When this part was originally serialized, the girls that showed up in Shonen manga were all cute types--essentially the stereotype of "a man's ideal girl." Readers weren't looking for a realistic portrayal of women, but instead, the type of girl that giggles during a conversation with heart marks appearing next to her. That's why I think a warrior-type character like Lisa Lisa felt fresh. Mr. Zeppeli in Part 1 was a very gentle character, and to contrast with that, I made her what you would call a "sadistic" character today. There was a girl in my neighborhood who would tutor me toward the end of elementary school. She was incredibly smart and it was very intimidating for me! Not that she was a sadist or anything (laughs). I think I was inspired by that moment, that exhilarating "nervousness" that I felt around my female tutor. It's normal to see strong women these days, but back then, it was unheard of in shonen manga, not to mention society in general. It was exciting to challenge people's expectations through the medium of Weekly Shonen Jump by having a woman train the main character so he can get stronger.

In addition to functioning as someone's master, people also weren't used to seeing a woman fight. When displaying the strength of a character, for example, if it's an old man, there could be a backstory where he spent his youth doing harsh training therefore he was able to learn the techniques and become a master. That would explain why he can catch a fly using chopsticks…but for a woman, there needs to be something more substantive to back it up. In a match, common sense dictates that the physically stronger would win, but I realized that if you add supernatural abilities into the mix, a woman can fight on even footing with a strong male opponent. In other words, if the battle is between those with supernatural powers, physical appearance has nothing to do with strength. The Ripple is Lisa Lisa's supernatural ability. The idea of "looks being irrelevant in super natural abilities" is what led to the introduction of Stands in part 3.

Q. What inspired the look of the Pillar Men?

A. Roman sculptures, the sphinx, Japanese Nio statues, etc. By basing them on the kind of sculptures you would see in temples or shrines, it gave them a mythical aura while also feeling familiar. Quite a bizarre juxtaposition, if I do say so myself.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 6 (Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli)

“

For Part 1, I wasn't able to draw the friendship aspect of a rival pairing. Jonathan and Dio didn't really have that sort of relationship. That's why I had Caesar, who inherited the Zeppeli bloodline, appear along with a Joestar. Weekly Shonen Jump is a shonen magazine after all, so I wanted to include something that portrayed friendship in a positive light. Caesar's trademark is, of course, his bandanna with the triangle marks on it. Even now, I still strongly associate this design with Caesar--not necessarily because Caesar wore it, but because I like the way the colors contrast on the bandanna.

This is going off on a tangent, but I like to play on "bizarreness" even when I draw in color, so I pay a lot of attention to how I combine colors with one another. For example--aqua and pink, blue and white. Those combinations are my secret weapons--they give quite an impact even when looking from a distance. I'm sure you think color pages use all kinds of different colors, but there many times where I only use two colors plus a few more muted ones. It's really helpful for me to use markings like this one where I can combine alternating colors.

Both Caesar and Joseph are Ripple users that inherited the bloodlines of their grandfathers. When I decided to draw these characters, I already wanted to associate their supernatural Ripple ability with their last names. In other words, I wanted each user to have a different Ripple, each with its own unique design. That's why I gave Joseph the "trickster" style of Ripple he has, and Caesar his bubbles. Bubbles pop easily, so many of you may think of them as being fleeting. I had not only read a lot of shonen manga, but a lot of books as well, and I was never a huge fan of the main character getting some sort of unbeatable, ultimate weapon. He may be stronger than before, but you feel like it's essentially over at that point. I like equipping the characters with weapons with faults and have them try to cover for them through strategy, and I feel like it's more fun to write something where you deal with the different merits and demerits that each of them have. I feel like Caesar's bubbles were a perfect representation of his fate and the burden he was carrying. I was able to play with the visual aspects of them as well by having him morph the round bubbles into discs for his Cutter, or use them as lenses. There are infinite possibilities that can come of a spherical shape like a bubble. I consider that to be a very important aspect of JoJo. Both Gyro in Part 7: Steel Ball Run, as well as Josuke in Part 8: JoJolion inherit these spheres, and my stance on that hasn't changed from when I originally drew Caesar.

Q. What is the reason behind Caesar's pose?

A. I wanted to convey a crucifixion--in other words, his future. Sort of a sense of preparedness for what's to come. I believe it represents the fate of the Zeppelis--to forge a path for the Joestars.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 7 (Kars)

“

The first thing I wanted to consider when writing the characters of Kars and the Pillar Men was how they would surpass Dio. We're talking about ultimate beings, so you first have to consider the fact that those who put on the stone mask become vampires, thus surpassing humanity. Therefore, I had to take things up a notch to the level of gods. That's why I based the four of their appearances (including Santana) on Roman statues, Egyptian sphinxes and Japanese nio statues--to give them a strange physical beauty as godlike figures in organic form. The reason Kars's ability, the Brilliant Bone Blade, was a Light Mode was because I thought a shining blade was appropriate for a godlike technique. At the same time, I wanted to visually express to the readers that defeating Kars would be impossible.

I think the Light Mode: Brilliant Bone Blade reminded a lot of readers of Reskiniharden Saber Phenomenon from my previous work, Baoh the Visitor. While we're not speaking of scientific development per se, there were aspects of Kars's quest to become the epitome of biological evolution that overlapped somewhat with Baoh. Visually speaking as well, as a mangaka, I really enjoyed drawing a technique where flesh and blade merge like that. In my opinion, taking those two completely different materials--flesh and blade--is something you can only do in manga. For example, the movie Terminator 2 had an enemy that could morph his arm like memory alloy into a metal spear, but that's not what I was picturing for this. The blade I wanted to draw was something more organic, more skin-like. I think I was able to convey what I wanted to because of this medium, black-and-white manga! I can freely draw things that can't even be done with Hollywood CG. Besides Kars's technique, there are several ways I feel like I'm helped out by manga as a medium. Both then and now, I never forget how thankful I am for manga.

Lastly, there are likely some of you out there that think Kars might come back to Earth at some point, but as the creator, I actually drew this with the intention of him never coming back again (Laughs). The line about him "deciding to stop thinking" was something that came to me naturally when I was thinking about what you would do if you were journeying through space and you became unable to return. The fact that he cannot fulfill his wish to go back--no matter how much he wants to while time continues ticking on--may be the harshest punishment possible for Kars as the Ultimate Thing. That's why, unless I can come up with a logical reason for him to come back, like maybe him developing a compass-like ability, or crashing down on some other civilization, that final scene will be his last one.

Q. Why does only Kars get a turban?

A. It's to show his superior power and intelligence as their king, along with it having a jewel. If you liken the Pillar Men to Mito Komon, Kars would be Komon-sama, while Esidisi and Wamuu would be Suke-san and Kaku-san, respectively (Laughs). That's where I was coming from when drawing their poses for Part 2, Vols. 2 and 3. I made him naked from the waist up to contrast with that air of intelligence.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 8 (Jotaro Kujo)

“

The idea of making the main character of Part 3 Japanese was something I had thought of doing around the end of Part 1. I had originally planned JoJo to be a trilogy, and thought it would be appropriate to have the final, fated confrontation take place in present-day Japan, but I didn't want it to be a tournament-style affair, like what was popular in Weekly Shonen Jump at the time. That's when I had the idea of having the characters head for a specific destination, like a road movie, taking inspiration from Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days. Years later, a certain TV comedian took a trip across Eurasia along a similar route. Just like with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken) coming out before Bizarre Stories in This World (Yonimo Kimyou na Monogatari), I'll say that for the record, JoJo did it first (laughs).

Clint Eastwood, who I love and respect as an actor, served as the model for Jotaro. Jotaro's trademark pose where he points his finger actually was inspired by Eastwood pointing his .44 Magnum. Even details such as Jotaro's catchphrase being "good grief" take inspiration from parts that Eastwood played, where he'd have lines like "A bank robbery? You have to be kidding me…" That's why Jotaro seems a bit "rougher" compared to other Jump protagonists. Joseph might be a little easier to get into from a Weekly Shonen Jump perspective, but Jotaro actually fits my image of a hero to a tee.

My image of a hero is that of a loner. As opposed to someone who does the right thing looking for compensation or attention from others, my idea of a hero is someone who is an unappreciated symbol of justice. There are times where taking the correct path leads to loneliness. I also think that heroes shouldn't be in the business of making friends. Jotaro goes on his journey while keeping his feelings bottled up inside because he's a "lone hero." He doesn't celebrate in an over-the-top manner when he defeats an enemy. For him, a throwaway "good grief" is plenty.

Jotaro has become big enough to function as a synonym for JoJo as a whole. I've actually based subsequent JoJos on his visual design and differentiated them from there. My original vision for Jotaro was having him journeying through the desert while wearing his school uniform, and with that, fantastical and bizarre things would happen to him during his day-to-day life. On top of that, it's not your everyday uniform. He's got a chain hooked on to his collar, two belts… I played around with his design quite a bit until I got something that conveyed just the right amount of rebellion. Speaking of teenage rebels, you know how guys used to have chains hanging from their pants, connected to their wallets? I drew Jotaro with his chain on his uniform first (laughs)! Let's add that to the record as well.

Q. What is the meaning of Star Platinum's pose?

A. It represents the starting point for Part 3--the work of Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The concept of wearing one's school uniform in the desert has its roots in Yokoyama Sensei's Babel II. If were to draw Part 3 all over again, I would have used Yokoyama Sensei's Tetsujin 28-go as inspiration for the Stands, representing a return to the basics.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 9 (Joseph Joestar)

“

It wasn't limited to Joseph, but I had a lot of feedback from readers that they wanted older characters to reappear in the series. Personally, I'm not particularly a fan of bringing characters back solely to play on nostalgia. There has to be a real reason for them to reappear. As far as Joseph is concerned, as long as he's alive and able, he would go after a fated foe in order to save his daughter. There was a clear motive to bring him back. Plus, JoJo is a story about the Joestar bloodline, so it made sense to bring back a previous JoJo for Part 3. I didn't hesitate in this instance.

This was fifty years after the battle with the Pillar Men. I had considered having him drop out partway through due to his age, but I figured I'd play it by ear as the serialization chugged along. The first role I gave to Joseph was that of the "navigator." After all, who better than to have a previous JoJo introduce us to the Joestar family, DIO, the Ripple, and Stands, leading us from the Ripple Arc (Parts 1 and 2) into Part 3? However, he is a previous JoJo, so I took care to make him not look like a protagonist. I wanted to make it clear that Jotaro was the main character of Part 3, and I couldn't let the readers get confused either. Thankfully, this part takes place fifty years after the events of Part 2, so I was able to make some drastic changes to his appearance without it feeling out of place (laughs).

Joseph's Stand, Hermit Purple, is more of a supporting ability, allowing visual and aural psychic projection. Even though he was a former protagonist, I didn't give him your typical offensive ability for the reasons I mentioned earlier--I wanted to make his ability fitting for his role as "navigator." A guide needs "lines" that connect him across the world so he can receive information. I was inspired by telephone lines or network cables. If he connects to a camera, it outputs a photograph; if he connects to a TV, it outputs video--the vines from his Stand represent that physical "line" or cable connecting them. Additionally, the form of the vines also has to do with Joseph being a Ripple user.

One of the things I wanted to do from the beginning of JoJo was visually express supernatural abilities. The Stand is a succession of the Ripple, and both are rooted in the same concept, so with Joseph reappearing in Part 3, I wondered how to visualize the Ripple in terms of a Stand. The Ripple is life energy which spreads across the body through breathing methods. The vines are meant to be an explicit visual expression of that--literally wrapping themselves around his body. If Jotaro and the rest of the Stand-using crew went back in time fifty years prior, maybe you could have seen a younger Joseph using Hermit Purple.

Q. Why is Hermit Purple purple?

A. Purple is a classy color. It's easy to make work with older characters. I decided on this after taking into account the Joestars and their associated colors. I figured that purple would work better with Joseph in his sixties as opposed to someone younger (laughs).

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 10 (Hol Horse)

“

Part 3 was structured to be like a road movie, a la Mito Komon. That is, I would have the Joestar party, with Jotaro at the helm, head off on a journey, where along the way at various places, I would pit them against Stand users with differing abilities. Each of these Stand users he would fight would be unique, but I had to consider who I would have appear and in what way would flow. The series was meant to be long running, so I took great care in formulating the of events so as not to lose the reader's interest. This is the case with Hol Horse as well. I designed his predecessors, Strength, Ebony Devil and Yellow Temperance, so that their appearances and abilities didn't overlap. I did the same with planning the fights--whether they'd be one-on-one or team battles. There were a lot of one-on-one battles leading up to this portion, so I thought I'd introduce a team of two Stand users at that point. That's why I had Hol Horse and J. Geil show up--because I was following the guidelines I had set for myself. If I had decided to introduce him at some other point, he might have been a lone-wolf gunslinger who was a little shorter.

I had planned from the beginning to have Kakyoin and Polnareff switch allegiances away from DIO to join the group, but I didn't plan this for Hol Horse. However, I don't think it would have been such a bad idea to have him join the group. Maybe I didn't because I love Westerns and it would have felt like a shame to remove the iconic “outlaw gunman” from the group somewhere along the way. I also liked his “why be number one when you can be number two” philosophy on life, which also carried on to Kira Yoshikage in Part 4. I drew him on a color title page like he was part of the crew, and I had him show up multiple times after his first appearance. However, my conclusion was that he would throw off the balance of the group if he were to join. As far as his character is concerned, both his looks and his personality overlap somewhat with Polnareff, and I felt that it would be difficult to work in his Emperor Stand as an ally.

The Emperor's motif is a gun, and I didn't add very many limitations based on how many could shoot or his firing distance. Unlike Mista from Part 5, who was only limited to six shots, Emperor is a Stand, including the gun itself... I figured as long as the user himself doesn't get tired, he could shoot as many bullets as he wanted, and as I kept going with it, it kind of got out of control. Also, the whole aiming and shooting at an enemy part overlaps with Kakyoin's Emerald Splash. In the end, I made the decision based on his character and ability to have him remain as an enemy, Additionally, I didn't have any more humans join the group after that. We had the cute little dog Iggy instead to assist the Joestar party. From a balance perspective, I was totally fine with that (laughs).

Q. Hol Horse looks a lot like Gyro from Steel Ball Run!

A. They're connected in that they're both tough outlaws. They both have that "spaghetti western" feel to them. Crank that aspect up a little bit more and that's my image of Gyro. At the time this was serialized, I might have also been inspired by another gun slinging outlaw, Buichi Terasawa's Cobra.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 11 (Enya the Hag)

“

Enya the Hag as a character was born as an answer to the question of who taught DIO about the existence of Stands. I had some of the Stands named after tarot cards, and I also had a vague idea to make a witch-like fortuneteller. I also wanted a scary old woman to be an enemy. After all, I consider horror films to be my teachers and textbooks, and you can't have a horror film without a scary old lady! JoJo has had a strong connection to horror films ever since vampires appeared in Part 1, especially when you look at the enemies. As far as Enya the Hag is concerned, I think I managed to include all the usual tropes you see with scary old ladies in horror films. She hides in waiting for the main characters to show up, she's got a hidden knife, she's ancient, but when it comes down to it, she can be insanely fast (laughs). It's pretty horrifying to run away as fast as you can, but as soon as you turn around, a scary old woman is right there waiting for you!

The same goes for her Stand, Justice. There are several horror films that deal with some sort of unknown virus coming down from space and putting humanity in danger. That was the inspiration for why I had her Stand "infect" the town, and why I had it in the form of "fog." This is a bit off-topic, but I consider Frankenstein's monster, werewolves, and mummies to be the three greatest designs in the world of horror. I think it's absolutely fantastic to imagine how you can start to unwrap one part of a mummy's bandages and it'll just keep going and going. I drew her son J. Geil's Stand, "Hanged Man," based on a mummy, but I worked the essence of a merman into him as well. Both mother and child are truly denizens of the world of horror, through and through.

Looking back on it now, Enya is chock-full of all of my favorite aspects of horror, so I had a fantastic time drawing her, even during the original serialization. I'm still not sure whether she was an appropriate enemy for a shonen manga, though. It's pretty "adventurous" to have an old woman as an antagonist for the main character to face off with, after all. The ratings didn't necessarily go up during that time either (laughs). No matter how much I may like her personally, there's no mistaking that the ability to convey her strength and horror as a character despite the fact that she's an old woman is something unique to JoJo due to the existence of Stand battles. I talked about this in Volume 2 of JoJo Part 2 when I was discussing Lisa Lisa, but when Part 2 was being serialized, I realized that if you worked in supernatural elements the outward physical strength of women and children would no longer matter. Stands use the concept of the Ripple and take it to the next level of visual representation. Despite being "just an old woman," she can use her Stand to disguise an entire town. Both Enya's looks and the concept of her Stand had a strong impact on readers. One last thing--I think having the mental strength to be able to control an entire town's worth of corpses would match up pretty closely with that which would be needed to stop time.

Q. Why is an enemy Stand called "Justice"?

A. I like that it makes you ponder what "justice" really is. "Justice" is a subjective thing, after all. Enya is on the cover for this volume, so I put a lot of detail into this drawing, including the wrinkles on her face. Her eyes look a bit more friendly than usual, but well...she is this volume's "cover girl" (laughs).

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 12 (Noriaki Kakyoin)

“

In my mind, I grouped together the fivesome that is Kakyoin, Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol and Polnareff as the "Joestar party." From the beginning, I wanted to balance the party to where their features, personalities, dress and Stands were all unique and didn't overlap. I wanted their silhouettes to be easily distinguishable when they were standing in the desert, but my editor at the time told me that because none of them have round heads, they all sort of look the same as silhouettes (wry laugh). I considered Kakyoin to be the prim, proper and sensitive one in the group.

Kakyoin is the Japanese main character in Part 3 other than Jotaro, but I didn't really think about his nationality much. His name is much more interesting. I always come up with first and last names together. I took his last name, "Kakyoin," from an area in Sendai, where I'm from. Whenever I went to Sendai Station, I would always pass through there, so it was a very familiar name to me. I gave him the following kanji for his last name: 典明. Kanji can be read in different ways, and while canonically this is read as Noriaki, I had always read it as Tenmei. You can see this in the hotel log where he signs his name (see the last volume). I spent a lot of time considering the sound and the balance of the kanji characters for the main character, Jotaro Kujo, but my editor had a "Noriaki" join the Joestar party instead (wry laugh). I was pretty shocked when I first saw that in the graphic novel release, but I justified it as that maybe his parents named him "Tenmei," but his friends called him by a different reading of the same kanji, "Noriaki"--a relatively common thing to happen with kids.

I didn't really pay much mind to the fact that he was of Japanese nationality, but I did have him act as a foil to Jotaro. I had him be Jotaro's first real opponent in a Stand vs. Stand battle so that I could visually convey the concepts for both short-range and long-range Stand abilities to the reader. I thought making Kakyoin's Hierophant Green able to stretch itself out like a rope as a long-range type would contrast nicely with Star Platinum, making it easy to understand how they differ in action. I had lots of ideas for long-range attacks, but I wanted to keep things from getting too far out of control by having Stands need to "stand" near where the action was happening.

I didn't get too many chances to actually show this, but Kakyoin goes to the same high school as Jotaro. While they're not super close on their journey, they do have a nice friendship, and I wonder what might have happened had they not had Stands in common. They might not have become friends (laughs). I have a feeling that Kakyoin would have been better friends with Josuke from Part 4.

Q. Did you ever consider making him wear something other than a gakuran (Japanese school uniform) to distinguish him from the main character?

A. Kakyoin's well-tailored gakuran gives him the feel of being an honor student. Meanwhile, Jotaro's loose-fitting gakuran fits with him being a delinquent. You can distinguish characters like that even though they might be wearing the same outfit. I think the accessories I gave Jotaro helped distinguish him as well.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 13 (Muhammad Avdol)

“

Muhammad Avdol...If I had to nail down what role I was giving him as a member of the Joestar party, he would be the "subleader." Not only does he function as the navigator brought in by Joseph, the second JoJo, but given his steadfast determination--which is able to bring such a unique group together--and his unyielding sense of duty, I wanted him to be that member of the group who everyone could rely on. Within the story, he is also able to back up Joseph's story about DIO's revival when he tells it to Jotaro. I wanted to give him some sort of connection to Egypt, where DIO was in hiding, so I gave him his "ethnic" design. When Part 3 was originally being serialized, I, as well as the readership at large, had a strong interest in areas you could label the "birthplaces of civilization," so you could say that Avdol's design was a product of the times.

I put him out of commission for a while when the party was in India. I did that because I never want readers to get bored or complacent with the events taking place, so I wanted to inject a little reality in there with having someone get sacrificed every once in a while. I also was enamored with writing chapters where an ally is lost. But in the end, as you know, I wasn't planning on keeping him gone for long... The thing is, I thought it was kind of lame to have someone who died just come back to life immediately, so I wanted to come up with a good reason, as well as an appropriate setting to reintroduce him. When I'm working on JoJo, I try not to sweat the small things. In the end, I brought him back just before the party got to Egypt, but at the time, I didn't have any specific plans as to when I would bring him back. I just wrote what felt natural to me at the time.

Looking back on it now, I probably should have given Avdol a section where he played more of a primary role in the story, especially given the fact that I took him out of commission for a while. Of course, this is all in hindsight after having finished the story. At the time Part 3 was in serialization, it might have been quite an "adventure" to have the story focus on Avdol (laughs wryly). If we had a character popularity poll at the time, I doubt he would have ranked at the top. All the readership wanted was more battles featuring Jotaro. On top of that, his Stand, Magician's Red, was difficult to draw. The ability to control fire is a pretty common thing in manga, as well as movies, but in the end, they just burn things up and that's about it. If you play it too loose, as an ability, it can break the balance. After writing JoJo, I think "fire" and "poison" are two abilities that I'm okay with putting behind lock and key.

If I were to write a portion of the story centering on Avdol, I think it would have been an origin story featuring his family--in particular, his relationship with his father. It might end up being a bit too mature of a story for Weekly Shonen Jump (laughs).

Q. Did Avdol get younger?!

A. He's actually supposed to be in his late twenties. He's younger than you might expect! He may look as if he's older than that, but if you ask someone who's been in the army their age, it always surprises you how young they are, right? Experience gives men a mature look.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 14 (Daniel J. D'Arby)

“

Given the evolution from the Ripple to Stands that came with JoJo entering Part 3, I wanted to include some battles that didn't just boil down to fistfights. I mentioned this in the Hol Horse retrospective, but I wanted to keep the face-offs between the Joestar party and DIO's minions fresh by switching back and forth between one-on-one battles and team battles, and as part of that, I needed to add some variance to the Stand abilities themselves as well. I actually did a "gambling battle" in Cool Shock B.T., but I wanted to try doing it again differently as a Stand battle. D'Arby came from my desire to do that.

I think of gambling as something where you bet your own soul and pride as part of the process. To me, the money and chips you actually use at a real casino are just a representation of your soul. So it felt natural to have D'Arby take the souls from his opponents once they lost. Well, the fact that I can depict it the way I did is all thanks to the concept of Stands (laughs). As far as gambling is concerned, you can only win or lose--there is no in-between. With D'Arby as the sole challenger, I wanted to give him the mental fortitude and strategic cunning to give Jotaro a run for his money, as well as be able to instill some fear.

I had D'Arby face off with the Joestar party in a few different ways. I like coming up with ideas for gambling because you can turn almost anything into a bet. Bets involving animals are particularly interesting to me. It's hard to predict what they're going to do, so it works as a bet. I like situations where it doesn't seem possible to cheat, but maybe they actually are somehow. It's also important for the bet to feel like it fits JoJo. Poker is pretty mainstream, so I assume many of you have played it before, but the key point to winning at it is perfecting the "bluff." It's less of a surefire way to win the battle, and more of a battle of wits between you and your opponent, testing just how much you can fool them along with just how gutsy you are, so I think it was appropriate for the final face-off between Jotaro and D'Arby. I really enjoyed drawing the D'Arby battle, so I introduced his younger brother, Telence, before the final showdown with DIO. I didn't want to give readers yet another poker match, so that time I had them play video games instead. Video games have all kinds of genres, like baseball or racing, so I had plenty of ideas to play around with, just like with the gambling theme.

Looking back on it now, I think introducing the D'Arby brothers and the Oingo Boingo brothers in Part 3 separated JoJo from other manga, because it allowed me to add just that much more variation to the battles. Jotaro and D'Arby's gambling battle led to Josuke and Rohan's dice battle in Part 4, and in JoJolion, which is being serialized right now, Josuke and Jobin's beetle fight. Battles in JoJo can be both fistfights and battles of wits. I think the D'Arby battle might have been the starting point for that.

Q. Who got turned into soul chips?!

A. Polnareff, Joseph, Kakyoin and Avdol. Only drawing two didn't seem like enough, and it wouldn't make sense to draw characters who didn't have anything to do with that part of the story, so I added Kakyoin and Avdol here as a special bonus. Looking at these, you can easily imagine a story where Jotaro saves them all.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 15 (Iggy)

“

I never want to put restrictions on what I can draw in JoJo. Whether we're talking about something biological or having to do with physics, I like to take all kinds of things and depict them on the page. That's why I have animals show up in the story, as well as join the Joestar party. While I was working on Part 3, I wanted to add in an animal as a pet. Thus, I chose a dog to accompany them on the journey. To me, dogs symbolize loyalty and friendship. All you cat lovers out there might be wondering why I didn't pick a cat, but I feel like a cat would betray them somewhere along the line (laughs wryly). They may be a playmate for you, but they're not your friend. I always end up putting cats on the enemy side, like with how the elder D'Arby used them to cheat which might say something about how I view them.

Just like with Polnareff and Kakyoin, I didn't originally plan for Iggy to join the Joestar party. I also didn't initially assign him a Stand and tarot card. I feel like The Fool is a perfect fit for Iggy, but at the time, it was the last card I had left to assign besides The World. Furthermore, I was considering having The Fool belong to an enemy instead. Things just kind of ended up working out the way they did, but given how much I love the design for The Fool, it's kind of crazy that it ended up being the last one left for me to assign.

When I design Stands, I often take inspiration from artifacts such as clothing, masks, and dolls from indigenous peoples. Once I fuse that aspect with something biological or mechanical, it makes a really unique design. Originally, I imagined Stands as being something inorganic powered by life force, so it makes sense that a lot of their designs are fusions between living beings and machines. The Fool's design starts out with a dog, and then adds on a Native American mask and the tires of a car. I think The Fool really represents my ideal design for a Stand.

I really enjoy looking at animal encyclopedias and reference books, but Iggy was actually the first animal I'd put into a main role in a manga. It was the first time I'd ever made one battle as well, so I used Yoshihiro Takahashi Sensei's Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin as a reference. The more I drew Iggy, the more I found myself becoming a dog lover. I actually thought about getting a Boston terrier, the breed that Iggy is, but I gave up on it, since given my job, it would be hard to take care of a dog. But if I were to ever get one, I think I'd really enjoy playing Frisbee with it. I guess I wouldn't get a Chihuahua or a toy poodle then, since they don't seem like they'd enjoy playing with me that (laughs).

Q. Tires make up the lower half of The Fool. What inspired that?

A. Formula One race cars. Shonen Jump was actually sponsoring a formula One team back when this was being serialized. I'd see them in the magazine a lot. It's not as if The Fool is a super speedy Stand, but it was relevant at the time, so I worked it in.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 16 (Jean Pierre Polnareff)

“

If you asked me which character grew the most on the journey to defeat DIO, the first one who comes to mind is Polnareff. He started out as a lone wolf who was only out to avenge his little sister and evolved into a true companion who supported the Joestar party until the end. It was a lot of fun to have him grow along the way to Egypt as he battled enemy Stands. His lines tend to stand out, for better or for worse, so I'm sure many readers feel as if he was one of the more prominent characters. However, the main character is still Jotaro, with Joseph serving as the navigator. In order to not have him overlap with them, I gave him a distinctive look and personality, which by contrast allowed him to shine on his own. He could cover what the Joestars themselves couldn't...which could be why I gave him special treatment (laughs wryly).

For example, when he's with Jotaro and Joseph, I could have him spout both goofy lines and serious ones, making him a very versatile character to employ. From bathroom-related issues to traps set by enemy Stands, Polnareff is the first one in the group to tackle them. It wouldn't be as fun if the aloof Jotaro were to do so instead. As such, naturally, Polnareff needed to make more appearances. Polnareff is straightforward and a bit of a rubbernecker compared to Kakyoin or Avdol, which allows him to get into all sorts of hijinks. As such, he may have had an advantage as to how often he appeared in the series. Also, from my perspective as the artist, he also had the most memorable silhouette out of the good guys by far. I used foreign models as reference for his hair. I sort of drew it like Stroheim's from Part 2, but done up.

More appearances in the story means more fights for him to take part in. Devo, J. Geil, Alessi, Vanilla Ice...he ended up fighting many of DIO's underlings, all with very different abilities. Back when this was being serialized, I was always writing those fights with the intention that Polnareff could lose and face death at any given moment. Like in the movie The Magnificent Seven, I wanted the reader to never know who would survive until the end--to experience the thrill of lives being on the line--and I think his fights definitely had that in them. I think it's because he made it through so many life-or-death situations that I feel like he grew the most along the way.

Lastly, as for the origin behind his name, Jean P. Polnareff: my three favorite French people are the actors Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, and the musician Michel Polnareff, so naturally, I drew inspiration from their names. The character is French, so naturally, his name would have to be Jean P.! Now there's also the famous chocolatier, Jean-Paul Hévin, so I think I would think the same way, even now.

Q. He doesn't usually have a coat. Why does he have one now?

A. I imagined him like a supermodel or a rock star. His original outfit was pretty simple, and I mean, he's going to be on the cover so why not have him dress up for it? Also, the reason why Silver Chariot is purple is so it's coordinated with Polnareff's outfit.

”

—Hirohiko Araki

Volume 17 (DIO)

“

DIO—the archenemy of the Joestar family. Given that I was bringing back a character who had been at the bottom of the sea for a century, naturally he would have changed during the time he was down there—his malice ever growing. I wanted to make DIO feel like a final boss, and given that readers were really looking forward to his reintroduction, in order not to let them down, I not only put a lot of thought into his appearance, but his mind-set and thought process as well—in particular, how DIO would view his relationship to the Joestar family and the destiny they shared as an evolution from what it was in Part 1.

What is the destiny that DIO has to face? It's not to face off with Jotaro, the descendant of Jonathan. It's something invisible to the eye that lies behind their bloodline. It's what gives the Joestars their allies, the Ripple, Stands, and their uncanny luck... that's what I define as the Joestars' "destiny," and instead, what DIO is destined to do is to quash that and surpass it. As such, he doesn't view Jotaro himself as his archenemy—rather, DIO only views him as an obstacle to overcome in order to fulfill his destiny after his hundred-year slumber. In the end, DIO wasn't able to achieve his goal, but it's fun to imagine what things would have been like if he had been able to defeat Jotaro. I'm sure he would have beaten down anyone who he thought had the potential to challenge his position at the top of the food chain. Even after defeating Jotaro, perhaps someone else would inherit his will. After all, DIO had already experienced that once before. However, DIO is more of the reactionary type, so he probably would have continued to take root in Egypt and wait for his prey to come to him.

I had been working with DIO's character since Part 1, so I would often try and put myself in his shoes and imagine myself as a vampire. Those who put on the stone mask have to take the lives of others in order to keep on living. During the part where DIO is chasing after Joseph and Kakyoin, I wrote a scene where he takes a moment to marvel at the sight of cars. One would have to be an immortal vampire to experience something like that, so I actually found myself feeling a bit envious of him. If you slept long enough, for example, you could see a country instantly change from a monarchy into a democratic society—experiences that the average person could never have. As long as you had humans to feed on and you remained in good health, I think it would be pretty fun. Do vampires even get sick to begin with? (laughs)

Speaking of DIO, I'll never forget how my editor suddenly ended up in the hospital right when DIO and Jotaro were in the midst of their final battle. I remember panicking because Part 3 was rapidiy approaching its end, and it's not like I could stop and wait for him! He would always give me really good specific feedback on things like Stand designs. "This one is too similar to something you've already done, so try and differentiate their silhouettes a bit more." It was tough working without him. What's that? Did he give feedback on the design for DIO's The World? Hmm... I'm not sure about that one (laughs wryly).

Q. You already drew DIO naked for Part 1. Why did you do it again?

A. It makes him seem more like a Greek or Roman god. In Parts 1 through 3, besides DIO, there are other examples of me drawing characters like this, such as the Pillar Men. However I stopped doing it as much after I changed the setting to be a bit closer to home for Part 4 onward.

”

—Hirohiko Araki